Innovation
Tokenized assets draw interest, but regulation lags behind
Regulators around the globe are showing increased interest in tokenization, but concretely identifying and implementing guardrails and ground rules for tokenized products has remained slow.
Franklin Templeton’s great DeFi migration
TradFi’s money and DeFi’s tech will inevitably combine, says the asset manager’s futurist-in-residence.
Larry Fink: ‘We need to be tokenizing all assets’
The asset manager is currently exploring tokenizing long-term investment products like iShares, with an eye on non-financial assets down the road.
Can AI be the solution to ESG backlash?
AI is streamlining the complexities of ESG data management, but there are still ongoing challenges.
Man Group sees alpha-generating strategies from agentic AI
The firm is seeing actionable use cases from AI agents, said CTO Gary Collier, speaking at a conference in London hosted by Bloomberg.
How fintechs can weather the funding winter
Investments into UK fintechs are slipping. Azimkhon Askarov, co-CEO and partner at Concryt, outlines strategies to help them through tough macroeconomic conditions in this guest column.
Is 2027 the new 24-hour trading target?
Slew of technical issues and dearth of SEC staff compound exchanges’ reluctance for round-the-clock equity trading.
Halftime review: How top banks and asset managers are tackling projects beyond AI
Waters Wrap: Anthony highlights eight projects that aren’t centered around AI at some of the largest banks and asset managers.
The great disappearing internet—and what it could mean for your LLM
AI-generated content, bots, disinfo, ads, and censorship are killing the internet. As more of life continues to happen online, we might consider whether we’re building castles atop a rotting foundation.
‘AI for everyone, everywhere, with everything’
Waters Wrap: Anthony looks at some interesting projects involving machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI from the last year.
The industry is not ready for what’s around the corner
Waters Wrap: As cloud usage and AI capabilities continue to evolve (and costs go up), Anthony believes the fintech industry may face a similar predicament to the one facing journalism today.
Standard Chartered’s AI Factory applies the ‘repeatability’ principle
The AI Factory will be a library of transversal services of AI capabilities for the bank to use, like a tree that continually bears fruit.
The Model Context Protocol brings agents to life—along with risk
Waters Wrap: From chat to infrastructure modernization, Anthropic’s MCP offers a ‘bridge’ to agentic AI, but its early days may prove disillusioning.
M&G Investments braves cost headwinds in pursuit of AI
The UK asset manager’s AI ambitions started with the creation of a data lake to ensure high-quality data is being fed into models.
Cloud Wars: Are EU and APAC firms really pining for homegrown options?
Waters Wrap: In the wake of tariffs and regional instability, there’s chatter about non-US firms lessening their dependency on the major hyperscalers. Anthony is not buying it.
Deutsche Bank casts a cautious eye towards agentic AI
“An AI worker is something that is really buildable,” says innovation and AI head
NY Fed Home Loans Bank spurns multi-cloud model
The cost and complexity of diversifying away from the big three providers outweighs concentration risks.
Everything’s a chatbot. Soon, your sales trader might be, too
Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Kepler Cheuvreux are among firms considering making their internal AI assistants available to clients.
MayStreet founder sues LSEG for fraud, breach of contract
The complaint accuses the exchange group of “defrauding” MayStreet executives following the 2022 acquisition. LSEG “strongly refutes these claims.”
ICE’s snowball effect: Intercontinental Exchange keeps leash tight on infrastructure
Voice of the CTO: Stuart Williams talks about why the exchange has been so adamant about “controlling” its infrastructure and technology, and how that helped it manage intense market volatility.
Investing in the invisible, ING plots a tech renaissance
Voice of the CTO: Less than a year in the job, Daniele Tonella delves into ING’s global data platform, gives his thoughts on the future of Agile development, and talks about the importance of “invisible controls” for tech development.